HOMESTEAD — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has looked into a four-minute video posted on YouTube which suggests that Homestead City Councilwoman Judy Waldman is being killed or is committing suicide.
“The video is very disturbing. It doesn’t discuss my political views at all and I take it very seriously as a death threat,” said Waldman, who holds the city council’s seat number 6.
Watch The Video Here
A person using the screen name, “AtashyDL”, posted the video, titled, “Judy Waldman, Bye, Bye, Bye,” on YouTube on May 5. It is listed in the satire category.
“I’m concerned for my safety and I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else,’’ said Waldman, who contacted the FBI about the video. “I’m under strict instructions from the FBI about my comings and goings and what precautions to take.”
Waldman said she turned to the FBI and the city’s police department after the video was posted because she was concerned about its contents and other ongoing issues, which she would not disclose.
A spokeswoman for the Miami office of the FBI confirmed that the agency is reviewing the matter.
“We are looking into it,” said Special Agent Judy Orihuela, the media representative for the FBI’s Miami office. “She did contact our Homestead office and we are looking into the video.”
On Thursday, the FBI closed its investigation finding that federal laws had not been violated.
Waldman said the FBI informed her that Homestead police is investigating the threat and the State Attorney’s Office has also been contacted.
Ed Griffith spokesman for the State Attorney’s Office told South Florida Times “We know absolutely nothing (beyond what you have told us) about this matter.”
The person who posted the video did not respond to emails sent through YouTube from the South Florida Times seeking comment. The poster’s true identity is not listed on the site.
With music playing in the background, the video begins with the words, “Farewell, So Long, Sayonara, Adios and Good Riddance To the suicide blonde” flashing across the screen.
Then a photo of a blonde-haired woman holding a revolver to her head appears.
Next, there is a succession of photos of Waldman, who is also blonde, at various official city functions.
Some of the photos show Waldman with other elected officials and people from the community at different events, including some that took place inside city hall.
One of the photos of Waldman shows her standing between former Homestead Mayor Roscoe Warren and former councilman Norman Hodge, both black males. It is then followed by the words, “Her human OREO period.”
Other official photographs, along with more inflammatory remarks that flash across the screen, follow those pictures.
After the South Florida Times published a report about the video on its website, SFLTimes.com, on Thursday, June 3, the video was taken down from YouTube hours later. The video winds down with a scene of cars screeching their tires down a street, followed by a chalk-line drawing like the one police use to outline a dead body in the roadway.
Waldman is not revealing details of her interviews with the FBI, or who she thinks might be behind the video posting.
“I have a few thoughts, but I’m not in a position to confirm anything at this point, and I don’t want to compromise the investigation,” she said.
EJones@SFLTimes.com
Photo: Homestead City Councilwoman Judy Waldman
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